KINGSTON, Jamaica – Theodore ‘Tappa’ Whitmore has been replaced as head coach of the Reggae Boyz by another former player, Paul Hall, amid the team’s poor showing in the CONCACAF 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
New Reggae Boyz coach Paul Hall.The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) confirmed in a statement that Hall would take over for the rest of the qualifiers, which will resume in 2022, after announcing on Thursday that Whitmore had been relieved of his duties with immediate effect.
“Bearing in mind that the World Cup campaign is still ongoing, the JFF has decided to appoint former assistant Paul Hall to lead until the World Cup cycle ends,” it said.
“The JFF wishes to thank Mr. Whitmore for the work that he has put in with the team over the years.”
Whitmore’s successor, Hall had been part of the coaching staff since June. The two men were part of Jamaica’s historic 1998 World Cup campaign when the team became the first side from the English-speaking Caribbean to qualify for football’s showpiece.
Whitmore served as head coach from 2009 to 2013 and then 2016 until his recent sacking. His tenure had come up for review during a meeting of the JFF technical committee meeting which recommended that he be fired.
FIRED: Theodore ‘Tappa’ Whitmore
After eight games, the Reggae Boyz had just seven points and are currently sixth in the eight-team table. The top three teams from CONCACAF qualify automatically to the FIFA World Cup in November 2022, while a playoff berth is available for a fourth-placed team.
Reggae Boyz have six remaining games to try to secure one of those four places.
They will resume their efforts on January 27, 2022 when they go up against Mexico at the National Stadium here before playing Panama away on January 30. They will return home to play Costa Rica on February 2 and El Salvador on March 24, before playing Canada away on March 27, and then Honduras at home on March 30.
Canada lead the group on 16 points, followed by the United States on 15, Mexico and Panama on 14 each, and Costa Rica on nine. El Salvador are below Jamaica on six points and Honduras is bottom of the table on three points.
